The Gard
by Duthae cilthri
Summary: Charlotte, a strong and easygoing young elf, joins the Gard, a special branch of the Varden, whose main mission is to find Murtagh and end him. Her initial dream of defeating the 'bad guys' soon turns complex when a series of strange and unpredictable events occurs.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This story is multi-fandom, containing characters from not only the Inheritance Cycle, but also The Lord of the Rings and The Vampire Diaries. It is set in Alagaesia for most of the story, which is why I posted this in the Inheritance Cycle fandom, since the site didn't allow me to post this as a multi-crossover story. One thing to note here is that the timing might not quite make sense, as a result of all the different characters from different universes coming together.

Disclaimer: Any characters you do not recognize are mine, but everyone else belongs to their respective authors.

 **Chapter 1**

" _Pit-pat pit-pat_ " went the raindrops on the roof. The rain was complemented with bright flashes of blue-gold lightening, with booming thunderclaps added into the stormy melange. Charlotte went up to the window and examined the skies. She sighed, thinking, "It was supposed to shine today. Now I can't take that walk through the forest anymore." It was these days she did not fancy. In fact, they bothered her. The storm was not rare, yet it was not quite a common occurrence either.

 _That day_ had been like this too. The sky had been shrouded up in dark clouds, accompanied by constant heavy downpours, with not a sign of the sun. It was a Friday in May, 6 years ago, when she was 22. She had been having the time of her life with her then-boyfriend, Sean. She had met Sean in military college, at the RMC. He was a very handsome man, with a great sense of humour as well, which resulted in him having dozens and dozens of women craving his attention. His raven-coloured hair was usually messily strewn about, yet it seemed to have been put that way _on purpose._ It was more like it was styled that way. Many a gorgeous afternoon day, she had stroked his hair admiringly as they told each other stories of their lives, joked together, watched great movies together, and had picnics together. His hair reminded her of a room of chaos, scorched and marred by flames, only to realize that the flames were actually elegant and graceful. He had an impeccable physique too, which was expected from one of the top graduates of the RMC. His oasis-blue eyes always seemed to have so much depth and understanding in them. He was also a kind guy who was always willing to help others. He had seemed like the perfect guy… until one night, when he got too drunk at the bar. He was at the bar, downing and refilling the alcohol glasses over and over again. Charlotte was looking for him, as he had seemed very upset before, and when she found him, he was already in a very drunken state. She had said, "Sean. This is enough. Let's just talk it out, okay? Sean?"

Sean just looked at her with sad, downcast eyes and said, "I don't want to say it. I'm afraid it'll just make it worse."

Charlotte touched his arm affectionately and said, "Here. Let's go home and get you all cleaned up. Look, you've got wine on your shirt." She tried pulling him towards the exit.

Then Sean just suddenly exploded. "NO! You don't understand!" and pushed her away roughly. She fell to the ground. Charlotte got up and said, "Hey! Why don't you just TALK to me for once? Huh? Instead of just hiding everything from me. I'm your girlfriend. I'm supposed to know some of this stuff, aren't I?!" and pushed him back. Sean looked livid at being pushed, his emotions heightened over the effects of the drink, and said, "I CAN'T! After everything- no, this just isn't something I can do," and tried to kick her to the ground with a swift move.

Charlotte braced herself for the kick. For some reason, her muscles just froze up and didn't move to react to the kick. Normally, her martial arts skills would have enabled her to dodge, or to retaliate, but with Sean, she just couldn't do it. She didn't want to hurt him. However, the kick never came. She looked up to see another young man hold Sean's foot with his hand. The man was blond. He said menacingly and protectively, "Dare to hurt her again, and tomorrow, your pain will not be limited to your severe hangover."

Sean said, bewildered, "Who are you?" Then he looked at Charlotte and said, "You and him… you don't have a thing, do you?" He wore an expression of utter disbelief and betrayal.

Charlotte was quick to deny it. "What?! No! No! Just NO! And who are you to do the accusing anyway?"

The stranger just took Charlotte's hand and said, "Let's go."

Charlotte looked torn, like she was about to protest, but went along with the man, giving Sean a sad look.

Charlotte turned to the man. "Thank you, that was really good of you to do that."

The man said, "No, don't thank me. I just hate seeing that happen. Anyway-"

Charlotte's flashback was cut short by an impatient rap on her front door. Slightly disoriented, Charlotte shook her head quickly, as if to clear it, and shouted, "Coming!"

When she opened the door, her gaze was met by an annoyed-looking Caroline. "Ex-cuuse me! Do you know how long I've been knocking at your door?" Caroline said, raising her eyebrows.

Charlotte said, "Hey Care, sorry. I was kinda distracted by the rain. You know, it gets kinda loud sometimes."

Caroline's expression instantly changed to one of sympathy. "That again?" she asked, and gave Charlotte a supportive squeeze on the shoulder. "You okay?" she asked.

Charlotte said, "Yeah, I'm fine. They're just a bunch of thoughts after all. Six-year-old thoughts at that."

"Awww, you," Caroline said, and hugged her tightly. Then she pulled back and wore a feisty expression. "Look what I brought," she said in a sing-songy voice. She pulled out a bottle of wine out of her bag.

"Ooh, yum," said Charlotte, with an excited smile. "What's the occasion?"

Caroline questioned, "Hmm… must there be an occasion to have wine?" and winked. Then more seriously, she said, "Actually, there is. You know that special division we applied for a couple weeks back? Guess what? WE GOT IN!"

"OH MY GOD, YEAH!" Charlotte yelled. She was so happy. Her huge smile was replicated on Caroline's face. They linked hands and did a silly little dance together, out of pure joy.

The special division they had applied for was for people whose job was to fight against evil supernatural forces, and bring them down. A few years ago, a little after she became an elf, Charlotte realized that a lot of the world's havoc was actually wreaked by supernatural creatures. As someone who knew about them, as well as someone who wanted to help improve the world, she jumped at the idea.

The two girls spent the evening happily chatting about what jobs they would receive, what missions they would be responsible for, how many people they would help, how well they would defeat the 'baddies', and how much of a difference they would be able to make on the world, little by little.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Is this the right turn?" Caroline asked, looking around anxiously.

Charlotte looked at her map, and said, "Yeah, it should be the one. We've just turned onto Oak Street. The address says 645 Oak Street, and right now, we just passed by 449 Oak Street… which means that we should be there in a few minutes."

Caroline said, "Okay," and continued driving. Then, she turned her head to Charlotte for a brief moment and asked nervously, "What do you think it's gonna be like? I mean, the interviews we had were intense!"

Charlotte answered, "Yeah, it's probably gonna be all intense… but we'll be fine. I mean, think of all the things we've done so far. I mean, we're not exactly damsels in distress," and gave Caroline a grin.

Caroline let out a short amused laugh, and then stopped the car, parking it perfectly. "We're here."

There was an old building in front of them. The state of disrepair looked like nobody had been in there in ages. Charlotte said, "Wow, this place _really_ needs a reno."

"Uh-huh… yeah" Caroline said wholeheartedly, raising her eyebrows, as if in disbelief that this was the building they were supposed to meet their employers at. "Are you sure we got it right? This looks like one of those places where-"

Caroline was cut off by a sudden boom that sounded from inside the archaic building. The doors opened, and a man walked down the steps toward them. He had a serious, grave demeanor about him. He seemed too world-weary for someone who looked to be in his mid-to-late twenties. It was the look of hardened grief that someone a decade older might have. As he stepped closer, Charlotte noticed that he had the most captivating eyes. One was dark brown and the other, a grey-blue. He was attractive, but in a modest way. He didn't seem like the type of guy who would boast about his looks, or shamelessly use them to take advantage of others.

"Are you Charlotte and Caroline?" he questioned them.

"Yes!" they answered.

"Hi, I'm Durik. It's nice to meet you," he said, outstretching his hand to Charlotte first, and then to Caroline. They shook hands.

"Please follow me," Durik said, leading the way into the building.

Charlotte exchanged a 'this is it' glance with Caroline, who took a deep breath.

They walked into a great hall. It was so entrancing. The outside had looked so shabby and unkempt, but not so the inside. The interior was rich and elegant. The designs were elaborate, breathtaking. It seemed to be the work from a past era, a forgotten era. As they walked, they saw a few people here and there, working. There were people reading files, collaborating and sharing ideas with one another, working on computers, and practicing fighting.

"Whoa," Charlotte thought. It was so cool! She thought, "This is a legit secret organization!" She felt so excited!

Then Durik turned around and said, "This is the Gard. It is a special division of our mother organization, which is called the Varden. This division is more modernized and it has set off on a different direction, but we are still a part of the Varden, so ultimately, we are the Varden as well. I am the leader of the Gard."

Charlotte was unpacking her bags in a room. They had been told previously to bring everything they would want to bring with them, as they would be away from home for quite a while. She was sharing a room with Caroline. It was a rather large room, and there was plenty of space for two people. There was even a little division in the wall, which made it feel more like two separate rooms that were connected, instead of just one room.

"Sooo," Caroline said, "what did you think of that Durik guy?"

Charlotte said, "He seems like a good leader. I wonder what made him so world-weary though. He probably has a dark past."

Caroline said, "Yeah," sympathetically, and then changed her tone, "But what I meant was… what a hottie… don't you think?" and grinned.

Charlotte laughed and said, "Yeah, what a stud! But he's our boss though. Don't you think it would be inappropriate?"

"Inappropriate? To think? Or something else…? 'Cause I didn't say anything else, you're the one who just turned this whole thing down toward the gutter," and grinned mischievously.

Charlotte smiled, shaking her head at her friend. "Maybe…" Charlotte said, but right now, her mind became occupied with memories of that mysterious stranger who had saved her from that kick six years ago. She had never seen him again, but she just couldn't erase her memories of him. She was so grateful to him; it was such an unexpected but kind act, and she was just enthralled by him. She thought, "It's pathetic to be in love with someone you don't even know. You can't just waste your years thinking about somebody you probably won't ever meet again."

"C'mon, I think you two would look so cute together," Caroline said.

Charlotte asked, "Awww. But what about you? You're single too, and you seem interested in him."

Caroline said, "Nah, he's hot, but he's not really my type."

Charlotte grinned and said evilly, "Ohh yeah, that's right. He's not murderous but caring, powerful but vulnerable, or anything like that, right?" thinking of Caroline's boyfriend, Klaus.

Caroline said, "Hey!" and threw a pillow at her.

Charlotte threw another pillow at Caroline and they had a short pillow fight, until they realized they should be acting more mature.

"HM," Charlotte cleared her throat, and they both exploded in fits of laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"ALEX!" a man's agonized voice sounded through the Gard headquarters. "OPEN UP!"

The racket jolted Charlotte awake. She sat up straight on her bed. She saw that Caroline was already out of bed. She got out of bed as well. She quickly put on a jacket and headed out to investigate. She saw Durik quickly run to the door. He looked into the peephole for half a second, and then opened the door, yelling "ATTACKERS INCOMING!" He motioned to the agents downstairs, who were stationed with guns, arrows, and knives.

He quickly brought the man inside and steered him to a safe area. The man looked disoriented and he was breathing heavily. He leaned on Durik for support, and his legs kept buckling. Durik laid him down gently on the ground and ran back towards the fight.

He picked up a bow and started shooting. Charlotte saw that his aim was extremely accurate. At times, he launched two arrows at once, with impressive skill. There still seemed to be at least about 60 enemy soldiers, against the Gard, which had only about 20. She quickly picked up her gun, and started shooting as she came downstairs. She had taken down 11 soldiers, when someone struck her hard from behind. The edges of her vision started to grow fuzzy, but she managed to deliver a back kick to the attacker. She then turned around and saw that he had taken out a knife. Before he could make use of the opportunity, she shot him expertly in the heart. She saw Caroline cry out in pain, and ran to help her. She had been shot several times, but she was still breaking necks and twisting arms. Charlotte tripped one of Caroline's attackers, shot him, then instinctively dodged a punch from another attacker. She tried to shoot him in the head, but she realized she had run out of bullets. In that split second, the woman took advantage of Charlotte's pause, and attempted to stab her with a jagged blade. Charlotte was caught off guard, but tried to dodge as best she could. Luckily, Caroline saw this and snapped the woman's neck with vampire speed.

Charlotte released a quick sigh of relief, and went to take on another attacker. The battle didn't last much longer. It was over in ten more minutes. Durik sent a team to dispose of their dead enemies, and went to examine the state of everyone's injuries. "Caroline!" he called. "I know what you are capable of. We have seven people you must heal. Or else they will die within minutes."

He led her to those people, and Caroline rushed to feed them her blood. She then went on to heal everybody else. Charlotte said "Thanks, Care," when she healed her. She felt so much better. She had obtained a fair share of bruises, as well as a deep cut. It was amazing how fast the vampire blood healed her.

Caroline looked around to see if anyone else was in need of her help. She looked to Durik, who had gone to the man who had knocked on the door. Caroline called, "Durik, do you need my blood too?"

Caroline ran to him, and Charlotte followed her. She was curious to see this man who had brought so much danger to them. The Gard had suffered three casualties in that skirmish.

The man's shirt was bloodstained, and he had a dark streak of blood running down the side of his head, continuing down his neck. His dark hair was matted with blood. Charlotte said reassuringly, "Hey, we have someone who can heal you up."

Caroline finished healing Durik and looked at the man. She slowly dropped to her knees, her wide eyes transfixed upon his face. "K-Klaus?" she stammered.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Charlotte turned to Caroline, shocked. "This is Klaus?!"

Caroline nodded slowly. She was still frozen in shock. A moment later, she turned frantic and asked Durik, "What's happened to him? Where is he hurt? Klaus, wake up! That's an order! You don't just leave for a few years, and then show up like this!" and started nudging him. "Just a second- you're gonna be fine- I'm gonna just-," and bit into her wrist. Her blood started flowing and she immediately used it to feed Klaus.

"Drink," she ordered him. Nothing happened for a few seconds, and then suddenly, Klaus started coughing. Caroline looked relieved that he woke up. He coughed up all the blood that she fed him, and said, "Caroline. What are you doing here? I must be hallucinating."

Caroline said, "No, you're not. I'm here. I can explain the details later, but I've joined this organization."

Klaus looked surprised. "You're with the Gard?"

Caroline looked puzzled, "You know the Gard?"

Durik spoke up and said, "Klaus is my second-in-command. He's been with us for years."

Charlotte and Caroline were both struck by surprise. Caroline questioned, "What?! Really?" in disbelief. Then she looked at the blood that he coughed up. "Klaus, you have to drink my blood to get better. But why aren't you healing?" She was confused, as Klaus was a vampire/werewolf hybrid, and so, his healing speed was usually even faster than regular vampires like herself.

"Marcel's witches. There were still a few left who are actually loyal to him," Klaus said bitterly, as he spoke of his former protege Marcel, whom he had turned into a vampire many years ago. "They tricked me and trapped me. They fed me a potion that would stop my blood from acting as an antidote to my werewolf venom for three days, and then one of them -one of them could somehow _control_ me into biting my own arm. I managed to escape, but there were about ninety on my trail. Normally, it wouldn't have been much of a problem, just an annoyance, but with the venom taking effect, you see, I was slowed down, and they were able to inflict a few injuries on me. I don't know why the injuries aren't healing though. Bloody witches. They must have done something else too."

Caroline asked, "How long has it been since your bite?"

"This is the second day." Klaus had some bitterness, but there was also fear. He looked like he was trying to hide it, but she could see it. She could always see what he was feeling. She felt an urge to comfort him.

She said, "Okay, a normal vampire would die in about two days. But you're Klaus! Your age and power must have some effect! Maybe you'll last longer! More than three days! And until those days are up, we'll heal you the old fashioned way, and then you'll be fine, okay?"

Klaus looked at her and looked a little touched at her concern. "Okay, love," he said.

Later, Charlotte went to Durik to ask him a question. "Why did Klaus say 'Alex'?"

Durik turned his head abruptly, "Alex? When?"

Charlotte replied, "When he was asking for the door to be opened."

Durik said, a bit warily, "Ah, that. Well, I am Alex. It was an alias I used a couple years ago, when I went to New Orleans and met Klaus for the first time. I guess old names are hard to drop."

"Whoa, alias? That's cool."

Durik said, "Well, aliases are necessary in dangerous situations, when your name could be traced back to you."

Charlotte grew curious and asked, "So you and Klaus seem close. How did you two become friends?" She wanted to know because from what she had heard from Caroline, Klaus was the murderous type who didn't have any friends, well, none aside from Caroline anyway.

Durik's face filled with a hint of nostalgia as he thought back. He said, "I was working on Marcel's case in New Orleans. The way he made rules and killed anyone who didn't follow his strict rules didn't sit well with us. Klaus was also working to take Marcel down. Once, I was in trouble. One of Marcel's most powerful witches… a young girl, Davina, revealed to Marcel that I was planning to take him down. As a witch prodigy and possibly even something more, she saw everything. I was on the brink of death when Klaus and his own army stepped in. They attacked, and managed to defeat Marcel. I was in his debt. Another time, Klaus was in trouble. The witch Davina was trying to destroy Klaus for the deaths of many other witches. I stepped in and reasoned with her, calmed her down. I gave her an alternative that she accepted. And from then on, we spent some good times together. I guess we just understood each other somehow. And even though we also had a few … rough patches, you see, Klaus isn't exactly a sweet angelic figure… he's a dick," Durik laughed, "we became good friends. "

The next morning, Durik held a meeting. Everyone was to attend, except for Caroline and Klaus. They were excused. He announced, "Everyone, I have received orders from the Varden. They want us to drop the missions we have right now, as we do not have any huge ones at the moment, and concentrate all our efforts on our new mission: killing Murtagh. For Charlotte, since you do not yet know who he is, I'll tell you."

"Murtagh," he continued with an expression of extreme distate, "is a filthy traitor to the Varden. He's a monster, a mass murderer of innocent, good people." People have argued that he is only committing these acts because of the strong control that an evil king named Galbatorix has on him… but not all of his crimes can be explained away with that, I assure you. Besides, because of his acts, intentional or not, he is way too dangerous a person to be kept alive. And before you argue that the control the king has must be broken, that is way too complicated to do. He has a dragon as well. That's where he makes the difference. If he was just any other servant of the king, he could easily be replaced with someone else upon his death, but that is not the case. Eragon, his half-brother and honorary member of the Varden, is the only other dragonrider at the moment. Other than him, there is only one other egg that is unhatched. Taking Murtagh out would be of great help to the rest of the Varden, who can then put their efforts to focusing on Galbatorix."

He paused for a while, and continued, "Murtagh is not a foe to be taken lightly. He is extremely powerful, what with his fighting skills and magical enhancements that he has received. However, do not lose hope. The Gard is strong. We are elites. We have people, powers that will be unfamiliar to them. They will not know how to fight effectively against us. We can put Murtagh to justice! There is a reason we have come together. THE GARD!"

The agents cheered! "The GARD!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"How is he?" asked Charlotte, peeking into Caroline's part of their room. Caroline had brought Klaus there, and he was now resting on her bed.

"Not good," Caroline answered in a very concerned tone. "Thankfully, I treated him for infections, and he shouldn't die of his injuries, but then there's his venom being used against him… and he's burning up, and he keeps having hallucinations… about his dad." Caroline grew sad when she said the last part.

"I just don't want him to have to feel that pain again," Caroline whispered in a tiny voice, seemingly to herself.

Charlotte decided to leave her alone with him, so she said a few words of comfort to her friend, and parted.

She went downstairs and met with the group. They discussed the details of their mission. It would happen three weeks from now. Until the end of the second week, they would recruit as many skilled members as possible. Then on the first day of the third week, with the help of the Varden's psychic, they would teleport to one of the Varden's hideout bases, which was situated near where Murtagh would be. They had received intel that Murtagh would be away from the palace that week. He would be away on a mission to take over another city. They would attack him then, and end him.

They then laid out maps to go over their battle strategies. It was a long day. They trained for hours and hours, and when they weren't training, they researched information on any weaknesses Murtagh might have, or any special tricks they could use against him. They also assessed risks, and made backup plans.

A younger girl named Alana asked Charlotte, "Is Klaus okay?"

Charlotte said, "I haven't checked on him in a while. I'll check now, alright?"

When Charlotte went into her room, she heard Klaus grunt in pain. She went over to Caroline's side of the room. She was helping him up. He seemed much better. His skin tone was a lot less grey and unhealthy-looking. His injuries also seemed to have healed a fair amount.

"Are you okay, Klaus?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm fine. A lot better," Klaus said curtly. Charlotte guessed that he wasn't used to people seeing his vulnerable side, and felt embarrassed about it, so she said, "That's good. Care, call me if you need any help or anything. I'll just go back and return to practice. See you guys."

When Charlotte told Alana the good news, she seemed very relieved. In fact, she told everyone, and they all seemed relieved. "How great, Klaus is loved by all these people!" she thought, knowing Klaus' backstory.

Worn out from a long day, Charlotte went up to bed. Within seconds, she fell asleep. That night, she had vivid dreams. The sky was a bright purple-red, and she was standing in the middle of a green meadow. It was very peaceful. As she walked, she stroked the long grass with her fingers. She looked around and she saw a blond figure who was doing the same thing as her. He was walking along with a happy, carefree smile planted on his face. She slowly walked toward him. She said, "Hi there."

He looked at her, and jumped a little. "Whoa!"

"Sorry to scare you there," Charlotte laughed.

The boy laughed too. "It's fine, I just didn't expect you. Usually, no one shows up."

Charlotte was puzzled, "What do you mean?"

The boy said, "Never mind that. It probably wouldn't make much sense anyway… what's your name?"

Charlotte answered, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

The boy said, "Come on, I asked first!"

Charlotte said, "Alright, fair enough. I'm Charlotte."

"Charlotte… I've never heard that name before, but it's really beautiful."

Charlotte's cheeked turned rosy at the sudden compliment.

"I'm Eragon," the boy told her.

"Eragon? That's an interesting name. I've never heard _your_ name either, but it's a cool name."

"Thanks," Eragon smiled. His face suddenly lit up and he said, "Do you like the ocean?"

Charlotte replied, "Yeah! Totally, it's so beautiful."

At that, their surroundings changed and she found herself at a beach. The temperature was very nice. It was warm, but not too warm. It was evening, and the sky was crimson. The waves were going in and out very softly and rhythmically. It was the epitome of tranquility.

Charlotte gasped, "Wow, this place is so beautiful!"

Eragon said, "Yeah, it is. We should go and swim. What do you say?"

Charlotte thought it was absurd, swimming with some guy she had only just met, but heck, it was just a dream, right? Still, swimming at beaches wasn't really her cup of tea, and so she was about to politely decline, when she looked at the water again. The colour of the ocean was a beautiful pale blue, and more importantly, it looked clean. It was too inviting to resist.

"Sure!" Charlotte said, and then got an idea. "Race you!" she called, and started running to the water.

Eragon sprinted after her. He was surprisingly fast. As an elf, she was usually able to beat most people, but he was hard to beat. Still, she was able to stay in front of him by a hairline. Eragon suddenly said, "Hey, who is that?" and came to a halt.

Charlotte stopped too. She ran towards him and asked, "Where?"

Eragon had a worried expression on his face. "Over there," he said, pointing to the left. Charlotte looked in that direction. "What do you mean? I don't see any… Eragon?!" He wasn't next to her anymore. She was slightly alarmed and confused for a moment. Then, she saw him already in the water, smiling widely at her.

"You cheater!" she cried as she ran after him. Eragon started laughing as she made her way over. Charlotte pushed a wave of water at him with her arm. She laughed as he sputtered, not expecting the wave.

"Oh yeah?" he said as he squirted water at her face. Charlotte laughed. Then she flutterkicked away from him, kicking as hard as she could. She was having so much fun. Then, a moment later, she saw Eragon next to her, swimming. He was catching up, and now, he was ahead of her!

"Hey, how'd you get here so fast? I even kicked water at you for good measure!" Charlotte joked.

Eragon smiled, and shrugged. "I swim a lot. I find it relaxing, and it relieves a lot of stress too."

"Do you have a lot of stress?" Charlotte asked him.

"Yeah… but this is the first time in a _long_ time that I've had this much fun. Thank you for that."

Charlotte said, "No problem. I had fun too. The pleasure was mine."

Charlotte woke up from her dream. She felt disappointed that it was cut short. She was having so much fun, especially after the past few days, which had been long and stressful.

Then, she remembered something. The guy's name was Eragon! The same guy as the half-brother of Murtagh, and honorary member of the Varden! She thought, "I can't believe I imagined someone I don't even know. Does he actually look the way he did in my dream? Or was he just a figment of my imagination, someone who doesn't actually exist in real life, but he just happens to have the name Eragon? That was the most likely answer, she thought. Durik had talked briefly about Eragon before. That was completely feasible. She suddenly became curious about Eragon of the Varden. At least now that she was an agent of the Gard, there was a chance she could meet him, especially since she was going to go to Alagaesia, his world, shortly. She couldn't wait to meet him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Durik called for a group meeting the next morning. He asked, "Has anyone recruited anyone yet? Remember, we'll stand a better chance with greater numbers."

An agent named Liam said, "Yes, sir! I have recruited one of my closest friends. He has always wanted to be in some kind of special military unit, but he has been suspended indefinitely from his unit. Rest assured though, the reason he was suspended wasn't because he was either a troublemaker or an inadequate agent. It's just that in that division, people are too power hungry, and people try to make each other look bad in front of the boss. My friend Steve was unfortunately framed for a crime by his colleague."

"That's very good, Liam. Good work," Durik flashed him a proud smile. "Does anyone have any new recruits?"

Caroline piped up, "Yes, sir. I have brought in a friend. His name is Damon Salvatore and he is also a vampire like me. I believe that his healing blood, as well as his fighting abilities, will benefit the Gard."

Durik praised her and listened as six other agents told him of their new recruits. He warmly praised every single one of them.

Two hours later, all of the new recruits were brought in to the Gard Headquarters, and Durik called a meeting where he addressed every one of them and introduced everyone to the new recruits.

He then asked two of the older members to orient the new members to the headquarters, and to show them their rooms.

Charlotte saw that this Damon Salvatore had a very bad boy look, and he was very handsome. Devilishly handsome. However, he seemed to be a decent person, from what she had heard from Caroline's friends. He was very cool and she felt the desire to strike up a friendship with him. "We'd probably have really good bromance," Charlotte thought.

* * *

A few hours later, Durik called another meeting. When everyone gathered to the centre of the room, he announced, "There has been a big change to our plan… I have just received new intel from the Varden. Eragon has requested to the leader of the Varden that Murtagh not be killed, but merely captured instead." Durik looked extremely displeased in delivering this information. "However," he continued, "We are to interrogate him about Galbatorix's plans, and if he does not comply, we have permission to use torture methods on him." Durik wore a sick expression of twisted satisfaction at that for a brief second, but it did not last long, as he composed himself instantly.

His expression slightly scared Charlotte. She had not seen that side of Durik before.

Damon spoke up, "Do you have a personal grudge against this Murtagh? You seem _very_ annoyed."

Durik raised an eyebrow and said, "Yes… my brother died by Murtagh's hand." He looked as though he was putting great effort into controlling his emotions as a leader, but he didn't look far from getting a knife and plunging it into Murtagh's heart, or at least a dummy until they found the real Murtagh.

Damon was more sympathetic than Charlotte expected, and he said, "Then let's torture the hell out of this bitch."

Durik glanced at Damon with an amused glint in his eye, giving him a genuine smile. "That's what I'm talking about."

* * *

That night, Charlotte had another dream. She was not in the field today. Instead, she was sitting under the biggest tree she had ever seen. The roots looked like they stretched for miles and miles. The abundant vegetation on the trees provided cool shade for miles.

"Hello, it's nice to see you again," Eragon spoke from behind her. Charlotte turned and said, "Hey! Eragon, I'm happy to see you too! This is a beautiful tree, by the way."

"It is, isn't it?" Eragon beamed.

"Yeah, it's epic."

Eragon said, "I know you might think me strange for doing this, but I named the tree."

"You _named_ a tree?"

"Yeah," he said. "I named it not because I wanted to state that I had some kind of ownership over it or anything. I did it just so that I could refer to it, instead of having to describe its qualities every time I speak of it."

Charlotte said, "I get that. It's not weird at all actually, now that I think about it." She loved how he had so much respect for the tree. It was rare to find people who had such reverence for something that most would simply overlook.

Eragon said, "Whenever I see this tree, I have so much respect for it, the way it survived all these years without dying. It must have had plenty of strength, fortitude, perseverance, luck, and even charm to overcome the great feat of enduring this long. I love this tree. I named it Arla."

"Arla? That's an interesting, unique name. I like it!" she said with a warm grin.

"Thank you," Eragon said.

They spent the rest of the dream lying at the base of the tree and exchanging stories about their childhood.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Today was the day the psychic was set to arrive. Charlotte was so excited. She would get to go to another _world!_ How exciting and interesting would that be?!

"Gather around, everybody," Durik called, gesturing for everybody to come to the centre of the meeting room. "The psychic of the Varden, Annika, will be arriving in ten minutes. Brace yourselves, and if there is anything that you forgot to pack, you can quickly go do that now. But be back by the eight-minute mark."

Suddenly, a blond girl appeared at the centre of the room. She had exquisite green eyes that gave her an enigmatic impression. "Hey, friends! I'm Annika, and I'm happy to meet you all!" she gushed as she smiled widely.

Charlotte thought, "There goes that enigmatic impression."

Durik approached her with a smile that lit up his whole face. Charlotte had not seen him this happy before. "So he's not always depressed!" she thought.

Durik gave her a warm hug and she suddenly took his face in her hands and kissed him hard on the lips. Many of the agents were taken by surprise, looking on with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Durik seemed surprised himself, but he kissed her back passionately, before pulling away and clearing his throat in front of the crowd.

Charlotte felt an odd feeling of unease. "Jealousy?" she asked herself. "No, it couldn't be," she thought, banishing away the thought. "I don't like him in _that_ way. If it is jealousy, it's probably because of how great their relationship seems."

Caroline took note of Charlotte's reaction, and looked disappointed at the kiss. Charlotte knew why. Caroline had made no secret of how much she "shipped" Charlotte and Durik as a potential couple.

"Anyway," Annika said."Let's travel. Woohoo!"

She told everyone to hold hands. Everyone had to be connected by human contact. She held Durik and Damon's hands and teleported them all to Alagaesia.

When they arrived, Charlotte found herself in what looked like the countryside. It was strange though. It looked as if it was set centuries back. It was interesting because she had always wanted to go to a world that was more old-fashioned than hers, just to see what it would be like. Also, so many interesting stories seemed to take place in the past, or in past-themed settings.

Everyone was looking around, trying to take in every inch of the place. Fascination and curiosity captured everyone's hearts.

Annika pointed to a big hill, where there were several cottages. She told them, "This is where you'll be staying. It's not exactly like a five star hotel, but it's cozy."

They all got settled in, and Durik quelled down everyone's excitement about the new setting. "I know you are all excited about being here. I'm sure it's incredibly interesting, and I'm sorry to cut you short on your excitement, I really am. But right now, our main goal is completing our mission. Tomorrow, I have intel that Murtagh is going to be in the edge of Surda. We are going to ambush him, and I am going to send fifteen of us to herd him from all sides, in circle formation. Then, the remaining eight will be positioned with sniper rifles on high ground, ready to shoot any of Murtagh's men, if he brings any. Remember, you can't kill Murtagh. You can hurt him, but if you shoot him, you've got to make sure it's in a non-fatal place, alright?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Bitch," Damon cursed when a soldier stuck a knife in his gut. He took it out and stuck it up the soldier's neck.

It was the middle of the ambush. Murtagh and his men didn't see them coming, so they had surprise on their side. It helped them take down many men at first, but soon, the fight became harder for the Gard. Murtagh had five times the amount of men as they did, and he himself was a very good fighter.

Klaus was fighting very well. He alone had already taken down fifty of Murtagh's men. Despite this, it was a tough battle, as many of Murtagh's men were elites. Things were looking hopeless for the Gard. Durik fought hard, but he couldn't help but despair as his gaze fell on his fallen comrades. Almost half of them had fallen. He let out a cry of pain and rage, attacking a soldier fiercely as he did. He took down soldiers skillfully and edged his way toward his target: Murtagh.

Charlotte had just decapitated a soldier, and saw that Murtagh was in close range now. He was fighting against Alana at the moment. It looked like he was mere seconds from making quick work of her with his sword. Acting quickly, Charlotte kicked him from behind. She didn't want young Alana dead too. He dodged the kick, but in a quick move, she took his arm, twisted it, and flung him against a tree. There was a loud thud, and a few leaves fell as the branches quivered. Murtagh fell, disoriented. However, he recovered quickly. Picking up his sword, he raised it over his head. In a swift strike, he made a move to bring it down upon Charlotte's head. She had no sword at the moment. The only thing she had then was a gun which had just inconveniently run out of bullets. There was no time to reload, so she instinctively protected herself with it, acting as if it were a sword, parrying. His sword strike had so much force behind it that her gun split in two. Charlotte threw it down. It would be better to rely on her quick moves. She was trained in hand-to-hand combat, after all.

Murtagh attempted another swipe at Charlotte, but mid-swipe, he stopped. Charlotte looked at him, wondering why he halted. She wondered if someone had stabbed him in the back, or if he had been sniped. However, he showed no signs of a new injury. He dropped his sword, not even seeming to register his now defenceless state. He just looked captivated by her and tears started to well up in his eyes. He choked up and muttered a single word: "You?"

Charlotte was deeply puzzled. "What does he mean? Does he think he knows me? Surely, he must have mistaken me for someone else. I've never seen this guy in my life. Am I a doppelganger, like Caroline's friend, Elena?" she wondered.

But before she had time to say anything, a figure whizzed from behind her, and daggered Murtagh in the leg. "There, he won't be able to run away now," Damon said, before rendering Murtagh unconscious with a swift blow to the head.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Charlotte, Durik, Damon, Caroline, and Klaus were the first to interrogate Murtagh. The rest were to gather the dead, prepare for the funeral, and keep watch. Durik had chained Murtagh up by his wrists, but he was not conscious yet, so his feet dragged on the floor and his body stood limp while his head lolled to the side. Damon advised Durik, "Leave this to me. I've had a _lot_ of torturing experience."

Klaus said, "You're forgetting the person who _invented_ many of the most popular methods of torture."

Damon scrunched up his eyebrows and squeezed his mouth together. "Fine, torture ahead, O' skillful pioneer."

Caroline gave an amused smirk, and Klaus turned to glare at Damon.

He said to Caroline, in a quieter, more private tone, "You see, love, he just completely dismisses all my centuries of study! It's incredibly disrespectful." Caroline just laughed at his indignant tone and gently pushed Klaus's shoulder.

Not wanting to waste time in case they got ambushed, Durik grabbed a bucket of water and emptied it on Murtagh. Murtagh gasped, regaining consciousness. He had blood streaking down the left side of his face from where Damon hit him. He tried to stand up properly, but the pressure caused a sharp pain to shoot up his injured leg. He tried to balance on his other leg alone, but in his exhausted and dizzy state, he kept falling back down.

Before Klaus could object, Damon went up to Murtagh. "So here's how it's gonna go down," he started. "You answer my questions properly, and we all go home happy. Peachy?"

Wearing a smug expression, Damon looked intently into Murtagh's eyes and used vampire compulsion on him as he interrogated, "What is Galbatorix planning? Tell me everything you know."

Murtagh said, "I don't know anything."

Damon was surprised. "No, that can't be true. Wait, do you have vervain? How can you resist my compulsion?" He searched him for vervain, a herb that could protect humans from being compelled by vampires. He couldn't find any. He couldn't smell it on him either.

Murtagh looked puzzled. "Vervain?" he asked.

Damon just said, "Yeah, whatever, doesn't matter if you don't have it."

Charlotte was confused. How was Murtagh not feeling the effects of Damon's compulsion? Could he be immune? Was it one of those 'enhancements' that the evil king had given him?

Klaus stepped forth and beckoned Damon back. He grabbed Murtagh by the chin and turned his head to the right and to the left, as if to examine him in a bored manner. He took out a knife and said menacingly, "Tell me what Galbatorix is planning, or I'll cut your skin, turn it inside out, wrap your left kidney inside it, and feed it to you." He smiled politely, holding out his hands as if to say 'Your choice.'

Damon raised his eyebrows and made an expression of disgust.

Murtagh gulped. He looked afraid, but he stubbornly insisted, "No, I said I don't know anything!" He glared defiantly at Klaus.

Klaus smirked. "Now now, that attitude won't do you any good, will it? And we all know that's a lie. Your heartbeat quivered." He twirled his knife around before asking, "Now… do you think I was bluffing?"

Murtagh stared at the knife, his pulse quickening. "No," he answered.

"Okay then. Let's get back on track, shall we, friend? What. Is. Galbatorix. Planning?"

Murtagh said, "Well, he doesn't tell me many of his plans. He likes to keep secrets, but I did overhear him saying that he has the last dragon egg. And he's planning to - aaaaaaaargggghhhhhhh!" Murtagh suddenly screamed in pain. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and he was turning his head from side to side. He tried to hold his head in his hands, but the chains stopped him. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself.

 _What had just happened to Murtagh?_

Durik prodded, "Yes, you were saying?"

Murtagh said, "I can't. I really can't say anything."

Klaus questioned him, "Are you so desperate for food that you are hungering for your own left kidney?"

Murtagh breathed heavily in fear, before composing himself. He mustered a steely reply, "If that's what it takes, then so be it."

Klaus looked about to do the deed, so Caroline said, "Wait! Klaus!"

Klaus sighed with slight annoyance and said, "What, love? I was about to honour my word."

Caroline said, "Just wait for once before going crazy!" She turned to Durik and asked, "Can Charlotte and I try to convince Murtagh? On our own? Just for a few minutes?"

Durik considered it for a few seconds, then said, "Give it a shot," before leaving the room. He beckoned for the others to follow.

Charlotte was confused and curious about her previous encounter with Murtagh. She asked, "Do you know me? And what did you mean by 'you?'"

Murtagh looked up at her, turning emotional again. "Do you not remember me?"

Charlotte stared back at him blankly. "I honestly don't recognize you. I really don't think I've ever seen or met you before in my life."

Murtagh looked disappointed, but he was not ready to give up yet. He pushed on, "Remember? _That_ day?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"What do you mean by that day? Could you be any more specific?" Charlotte said, slightly irritated.

Murtagh said, "It was a few years ago, so that might be why you don't remember. I was younger then, so that's probably why you don't recognize my face. I was ten. My father's bastard friends were drinking again, and they ordered me to get them more drinks. I didn't want a guaranteed punch in the face, so I went to grab some drinks. I was scared. Whenever they drank, their tempers became more vicious by ten-fold. When I did, one of them taunted me and grabbed me by the hair. I asked him to stop, but he got mad at me. He said he had never seen such insolence from a son of the Forsworn before. I dared to order him to do something! How horrid," he said drily.

"Anyway, he went outside and started beating me up. He even got his knife and tried to stab me in the gut. But just as he raised his knife, another knife whizzed past me and stabbed his hand. I remember being surprised at how deep it went. I looked up and I saw you. You kicked him down and said, "Pick on someone your own stupid worth. Don't ever fucking try to hurt him again." I still remember your words and I can remember that day as if it were yesterday. Then, you asked me if I was alright, and bandaged me up. I was and still am extremely grateful to you. I owe you my life. That's why I could never forget you, even if over a decade has passed. And that's why I couldn't fight you."

Charlotte remembered what Murtagh said. The memories started flooding back. The reason she had forgotten in the first place was because she had thought it was all a dream, and had dismissed it as such. One moment, she had been in her house, and the next, she was in a different world. It couldn't have possibly been real. Then, when she woke up, she had been in her bed. It was all so confusing. What Murtagh said was true. She knew it. But what had happened with her memory?

She decided to move on for now, and swallow her feelings for the few minutes she had left. "Why did you stop talking when Klaus was interrogating you? What happened?"

Murtagh hesitated. "I… the king was in my head. He can get into my head really easily. He threatened that if I reveal any more information, my dragon, Thorn, will die. And I can't let that happen. To show me an example, he hurt Thorn. He burned him." Murtagh clenched his fists. "We're connected, me and Thorn, mentally and emotionally, so I felt some of the pain that he felt. That's why I screamed out. Now do you see why I can't answer your questions?"

Charlotte sighed. This was harder than she thought it would be.

Murtagh wore an apologetic expression of guilt and said, "I'm sorry. You deserve for me to help you. And I would, if it were only my life that was at risk. After all, I might not even be here today if it weren't for you. But Thorn's life is at stake too."

* * *

After a few more minutes, Durik and the others walked back in. Durik asked, "Did you get anything out of him? Did he tell you what Galbatorix was planning?"

Charlotte said, "No, I'm sorry, we couldn't. He really wouldn't talk."

Durik strode up to Murtagh and said, "Listen here. Tell me! Or else, the ones you love will be put in danger."

Murtagh laughed mirthlessly. " _Put in danger._ "

Then his expression became stone-cold. "There's nothing you can do that will make me change my mind."

Durik stood tall. "I am Durik, _leader_ of the Gard, special division of the Varden. I think I can come up with something."

Murtagh stared at Durik and gave him a defiant, mirthless grin. "I know you. Oh, I remember now. Is this about him? Your brother? Because _I_ _killed_ him? Durik… or should I call you Kili?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

" _Kili?_ " Charlotte thought, confused. So Durik was an alias too? Wow, this guy must have lots of reasons to hide his identity. She grew curious about his past. What made it so he had to cover up his identity like that?

Charlotte thought of another thing that didn't seem to add up, other than the mystery of how years ago, she had suddenly been transported to Murtagh's house. The time frame during which it occurred didn't make sense _at all._ She had saved him when she was twenty-two. It had been a few months after the Sean incident, and seeing Murtagh get abused had struck a chord of empathy in her. Even though what he suffered was way more severe, it reminded her of her own pain, and she didn't think anyone deserved that.

Since she was now twenty-eight, that meant she had saved Murtagh six years ago. And Murtagh said that he was ten when it happened. But he was eighteen when his age was 'frozen' due to becoming a dragon rider. So, that meant he was older than that. The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit together. Did Murtagh remember it wrong? Could it be possible that it actually happened when he was thirteen or fourteen?

* * *

At night, as she slept, Charlotte had a dream. She was walking along a countryside path. She looked around at her surroundings and saw a large tree root next to her. She followed it for a mile, and it led her to Arla. Strangely enough, Arla was not in the state it was in before, in her last dream. The once-beautiful flowers had shrivelled up and died. Some of the branches had fallen off. She grew a little sad, thinking of the conversation she had with Eragon in her last dream. He loved the tree so much. He must be sad to see it in its current state.

 _Wait, if I'm having this dream, Eragon must be here!_ she realized. She got excited, despite her sadness about Arla. She would see Eragon again! She kept her eye out for him while she made her way to the other side of the tree. She glimpsed a hooded figure wearing a cloak. _Eragon?_ But hoods didn't seem to be Eragon's style. It was too… dark for him. She went toward the figure anyway. Hearing her footsteps, the hooded figure glanced up at her. It _was_ Eragon!

"Oh, hi Eragon!" Charlotte greeted him happily.

"Hello, Charlotte," Eragon said in a soft voice. Instead of his usual smile and bright, happy eyes, he looked sad and his eyes were downcast, lacking their usual energy.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

After a pause, Eragon answered, "I just don't know what to do."

"...Is this about Murtagh?" Charlotte asked.

Eragon looked up, "How… how did you know?"

"Well, I am a part of the Varden, after all. I've heard a bit about your relationship with him, so I guessed that's what made you feel troubled."

Eragon said, "I just hate him _so_ much. He's done so many bad things. I get that he's being controlled, but sometimes, it seems like he goes beyond what he's ordered to do…" He broke off. He frowned and said, "And just because he's being controlled doesn't mean that he's not a threat. It may not be his fault, but it still makes him as dangerous and big of a problem to the Varden."

Charlotte sensed that Eragon wanted to say something more, and he seemed to have a lot of pent-up emotions about the topic, so she stayed silent and waited for him to continue. She patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"It's all my fault," Eragon suddenly choked out. His tone had completely changed. The anger directed at Murtagh before seemed to be a façade. Just a way for him to try and stay sane and block out his guilt.

"You see," he explained, "He was taken to Galbatorix during a battle when he was staying with the Varden. I was travelling with him before that, and he _really_ didn't want to go to the Varden, but because of me, he ended up going. If I hadn't convinced him or if I hadn't met him then, he would be free right now. He would probably be living a much better life than he is now."

Charlotte squeezed his shoulder. She felt so much sympathy for him. Fate had given out a cruel hand to Eragon and Murtagh. "I understand why you're feeling this, but Eragon, as much as it hurts to acknowledge this, there's nothing we can do to change the past. What matters now is the present. You could work to help Murtagh, try to make things better for him. Then slowly, you could solve the mistakes of the past. Just because you can't directly go back and change everything, it doesn't mean you are powerless with his fate. I believe in you. You have the power to make things right."

Eragon sighed and looked into Charlotte's eyes. "Thanks," he said.

"Do you need a hug?" Charlotte asked him. She hugged him before he had a chance to say anything, because he looked like he could really use one.

Eragon tensed up in surprise for a moment. Then, he relaxed and hugged her back. They stayed like that for a few seconds, and when they pulled away, Eragon wore a small smile on his face. He had regained a grain of his usual light aura. "Wow, you must be some sort of sorceress," he said.

Charlotte raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me? Do I _look_ like a sorceress to you?"

Eragon _laughed_ and clarified, "No, I didn't mean it as an insult. I meant that you must be a sorceress to turn my mood around like that. I feel so much better now. I really feel like I could change things for the better. Thank you for that." He beamed.

* * *

Durik announced the new orders that he had just received from Lady Nasuada, head of the Varden. She had told him that she and some of her top-ranking officers would be taking over Murtagh's interrogation. They were allowed a week of time off. _A whole week!_ Charlotte was surprised that they would receive a break after so much had happened. Durik explained that Nasuada acknowledged the great work they had done. Capturing Murtagh was no easy task, and they had fulfilled it, thus she deemed they deserved a reward. Besides, many lives were lost during that mission. The week off would also serve as time for the agents to recollect themselves and grieve for their friends.

* * *

Murtagh was still chained up in the torturing chamber. He felt so exhausted, not to mention extremely dehydrated as well. His vision was fuzzy. Now and then, he would become more conscious, and things would look clearer. Then, they would go back to the usual fuzziness. At least the wound inflicted on his leg had been healed by Eragon. At the sound of soft footsteps, he raised his bleary eyes. He could make out a figure in a dark cloak moving toward him. He saw that the figure was female. She lifted up her hood, and stared at him.

Murtagh was startled by how piercing her eyes were. He felt as if he had to turn away, or else she would pierce through him and see his deepest, darkest secrets.

She knelt down to his level and met his eyes once more. She revealed a small water pouch from the inside folds of her cloak. "I have brought water for you."

Murtagh looked suspicious. _Was she here to poison him?_

She said, "Come on, it's good water. You can drink it. I swear it's not laced with poison or anything." She took a swig of it herself to show him that it was safe.

Reassured, he took the pouch. After gulping down the water in a matter of seconds, Murtagh asked her warily, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you helping me?"

She said, "That's irrelevant for now. What you should be asking is 'Can you really grant me one of my greatest wishes?'"

"One of my greatest wishes?" Murtagh looked puzzled.

She answered, "Yes. In fact, I can. I can offer you an opportunity to redeem yourself. I can present you with a way to change the past."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Murtagh scoffed, "What do you mean, change the past? Everyone knows you can't change the past."

She grinned. "I know, I know, most people lack the mental faculty to do so, but I don't."

Murtagh gave her a slight glare at that. He asked skeptically, "So what about the past do you think I want to change?"

She answered simply, "Fili. His death."

That made Murtagh look at her quizzically for a second. He froze for a moment. Then he erupted in a fit of mirthless laughter, which turned into coughs.

When he finished, he said, "You think I would want to go back and what, prevent his death or something? Have you gone completely insane? I-I _enjoyed_ killing him. Do you know why? It's because I'm evil, and evil people just do whatever the hell they-"

"Stop, just stop," she said. "I know that's not the case. I'm psychic."

"You're ….. _what_?!" Murtagh felt deeply embarrassed.

She said, "It's alright. I don't judge you. Because I understand why you do it."

Murtagh felt like his privacy had been stripped away. He hated it. To him, his privacy was the only security he had left, as the king had left him stripped of so many other things. _How_ did this girl know how he tried to act evil and hide his true emotions about Fili's demise? How he tried to make himself believe that he was pure evil. He reasoned that if he was pure evil, then somehow, part of his humanity would break off and he wouldn't need to feel that pain and guilt anymore. He wouldn't have to endure through his complicated mess of emotions.

He shook his head in denial, "No, I've never heard of a real psychic before. I know people who practice magic, like me, who can look into people's minds. I myself am very adept at it. But when magicians try to come into my mind, I can sense it. I didn't sense you, however. I think you're lying, and you're trying to get something out of me. This is a trick."

Her expression didn't change. She just said, "I can prove it. I know all about it. Fili was your best friend. Your only friend at the time. Fili was imprisoned in Galbatorix's castle- I presume another psychic brought him to this world for whatever reason, but anyway, you two met in the castle, and became good friends. He wished to escape, so he could go back to his world to be with his brother and friends. He would always speak of home, and you could see how much he missed his family and friends. Even though you knew it was risky, it killed you to see him be so miserable, and then attempt to mask his emotions whenever you were around. Because you saw through that."

Murtagh was surprised at how much she knew. He also couldn't help but gain moisture in his eyes. He tried very hard to keep them from falling, at least.

The girl continued, "You helped him put together an escape plan. You spent every bit of your spare time working on the plan. It bothered you at night, when you would think about it. When your plan was finished, you both thought it would be flawless. However, you underestimated Galbatorix and his spies. He knew about the plan, and caught Fili. The evil man he is, he ordered you to kill him."

Murtagh gulped. A tear dropped from his left eye. He remembered exactly what Galbatorix had said that day: "We do not condone runaways. Sometimes… I feel that I do not come across with enough authority. Sometimes people do not take me seriously… and act to disobey me. Make an example of him… Murtagh." The king had grinned at him. It was a sick, twisted grin. Murtagh had never despised anyone so deeply as he did the king at that moment. Murtagh had refused outright. "You'll have to kill me," he had said defiantly.

The king had just laughed. Then, he ceased his laughter, and his face grew serious. "I will not kill you… until after I kill Thorn. I will kill your beloved dragon, if you fail to obey me."

Murtagh's heart had felt as if it were wrenched up his throat. That's how hard it had pelted when he heard the threat. He hated how vulnerable he was against the king. That's all the king had to say, and every time, Murtagh would be forced to oblige. He had never felt so powerless in his life.

Frozen, he had said, "You're bluffing. You need Thorn. It's not like you have an abundant supply of dragons around here." That earned him a whip lash.

Galbatorix went up to him and said, "Being brave, are we now? Are you sure you want to take the chance?" Galbatorix took a hot poker and stabbed Thorn with it. Thorn couldn't defend himself because Shruiken was holding him down. Galbatorix warned dangerously, "Make your decision. Is it Thorn… or Fili?"

For a few moments, Murtagh couldn't do anything, except shake his head in denial again and again. _He couldn't possibly kill his best friend…_

Galbatorix pushed the poker in more. Murtagh could feel that it was close to the heart. "No, wait!" he cried out desperately.

 _But he couldn't let his soulmate die._

He slowly went to Fili, who was shaking his head. "Please, Murtagh, don't," he pleaded.

Murtagh said tearfully, "You _know_ how much I don't want to do this." His upper lip quivered.

"I'm sorry, friend." He unsheathed his sword and decapitated him with a quick slice. It was the least he could do. He didn't want him to suffer for long.

He hated himself _so_ much. He had killed his own friend. It was all his fault. He should never have encouraged Fili and helped him plan an escape. How could he have been so stupid?!

Murtagh said, "Stop. I get it. You're a psychic, and you can see into my mind. I accept that now."

"Okay," she said with sadness and sympathy in her tone. She went on to tell him that she could teleport him, not just through space, but also through time. That way, he could go back, and save Fili! She would teleport them both to the present, where Fili would be reunited with his brother.

Murtagh was fascinated by her claim of time travel. "How do you know you can do it for sure? Have you tried it in the past?"

She looked back at him and merely said, " _That day._ " She then turned to leave.

As she was leaving, she stopped for a second as if she had just remembered something. "By the way," she said. "I'm Annika."

* * *

"So," Klaus said with a smile, "Where do you wish to visit during our vacation?"

Caroline smiled back and said, "Hmm… I have always wanted to travel. Rome, Paris, Tokyo… you're not going to go back on that, are you?" She turned mischievous.

Klaus's smile grew wider, and said, "Of course not, love. You know how good I am at keeping my word."

She gave him a look, and they were both silent for a while. Klaus slowly leaned in a little. Caroline looked away slightly. She blinked several times. She felt her heart speed up. "Ah, he's going to hear how fast it's beating now," she thought, embarrassed. Her cheeks turned pink. Things were so complicated between them. It wasn't like they were ever dating. Sure, Klaus had never made a secret of how much he loved her, but she had always rebuffed his advances. She had accepted him as a friend though. And now, their relationship was a mess of feelings strewn everywhere. And there was so much tension.

Suddenly, as if unable to help herself, she turned back to him and pressed her lips to his. His lips responded to hers. It was a sweet, gentle kiss. Then, it grew passionate and intense. When they drew back to pause, Klaus looked happy and satisfied. Caroline felt exhilarated and excited. She wanted more. She kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his head, and treading her fingers through his curls.

When they drew apart again, Klaus wore that smile that was reserved only for Caroline. Now it was his turn to be mischievous. "Does your offer for hot, hybrid sex still stand?"

* * *

Kili started to grow worried. He had agreed to meet Annika at the tree outside their cottage twenty minutes ago. She still hadn't showed up. He was about to go search for her, but he heard the soft rustle of leaves. She appeared before him. He said, "Hey, I was getting so worried about you. I thought something had happened to you!"

"Sorry, there was a matter that I had to attend to. It took longer than expected."

Kili made a move toward her, as if to hug her. She disappeared. A second later, Kili felt her warm arms wrap around him from behind, in a backhug. He loved backhugs. He placed his hands around her arms. Then, he turned around and kissed her. She kissed him back and they were so absorbed in the moment that they forgot about their surroundings. As a result, they fell as Kili tripped and the two rolled down the little hill they were standing on. They burst out laughing.

Many feet away, Charlotte saw them. "Wow, this is awkward," she thought. She was actually here to deliver Kili a gift from Alex, another one of the Gard, who had already left to enjoy her vacation. Alex had chosen to stay in Alagaesia. She was certainly an explorer, and she wasn't about to let a great chance like this pass her by.

Charlotte sighed. She supposed she could always stop by later. She began to leave, but felt the impulse to look back. It was nice to see him look so happy for a change.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The next day, Charlotte went to Kili's cottage. She felt awkward and nervous. She was here to report to him that she would be going to the Varden to spend her week off.

She knocked on the door. Kili opened it. "Hey, Charlotte!" he greeted her warmly. "Would you like to come in?" he asked.

"Wow, he seems a lot happier than usual. Maybe it was the lack of stress?" She thought back to last night. She still couldn't get the images of him and Annika out of her head. "Ahh, _that_ must be why," she thought half-bitterly.

She answered, "Hi, Kili. And it's fine, I just needed to tell you something. It won't take long."

"No, no, come in! I have some tea ready. Have some!" Kili said with a friendly smile.

He poured her a glass of tea and gave it to her in a cute little leaf-shaped mug. "Mmm," she said. "It smells good!" Kili smiled at that. After tasting it, she said, "It tastes wonderful too! Wow, I'm not even a tea person, but this… this is just incredible. How do you get it to taste this good?"

"Glad to hear it. And it's a special recipe. A secret." Kili replied with a grin. "Oh right, you said you wanted to tell me something? What was it?"

"Oh, yeah. I want to go to the Varden and spend my week there. I just thought that since you're my commanding officer, basically, I should report to you before I go."

"Good, alright. Why do you want to go to the Varden though? Any big reason?"

Charlotte replied, "Oh, you know, since we're a subunit of the Varden, I thought it would be really interesting to visit it. I want to see how it runs and what it's like… in person." In her mind, she had a clear ulterior motive: meeting Eragon… but she didn't have to tell Kili that.

Kili said, "That makes sense. I hope you like it. Do you want me to ask Annika to teleport you there? It'll be much faster. If you go by yourself, it'll take about a day."

Charlotte said, "Oh no, it's alright." For some weird reason, she didn't feel like getting help from Annika. She didn't want to rely on her so much. It was stupid, she thought. It would save her a whole _day_ , but she was stubborn. She was going to travel on her own, with none of her help.

"Are you sure?" Kili asked.

"I am. Besides, I would miss all the scenery," Charlotte said.

Kili laughed softly and said, "Alright then. Have a safe journey."

With a warm smile, Charlotte said, "Thanks. Bye."

Charlotte grabbed her bag and headed out of her cottage and into the wild.

After walking for five and a half hours straight, she decided to stop for food. She rummaged into her bag and pulled out a sandwich. _Mmmmmm, it was good._ She munched on it hungrily and finished it in two minutes. Then she pulled out her full water bottle and downed a quarter of it.

As she placed everything back into her bag and resumed walking, she picked up rustling sounds with her acute hearing. She craned her ears a bit more and she could make out whispers. She darted to the side of the trail, into a field of long grass. As she looked around, a small part of her brain recognized the field and realized that it was not just any field. It was the field from her first dream with Eragon. "Interesting," she thought. Suddenly she heard something darting toward her. From the sound of it, it seemed like a knife. She did a front flip and then and did a shoulder roll as she landed, distributing the stress of the fall across the rest of her body. She turned her head abruptly toward the direction the knife had whizzed from. Without taking her eyes off, she slowly took her bag off her back and unzipped it. She was so close to grabbing her gun. Just a few seconds away…

Suddenly, arrows started firing at her. She counted five. She dodged the first one narrowly by a turn of her head, the second one with a side step, and two more with a shoulder roll. She caught the last with her hand. She held it as if it were a knife. She grabbed her bag quickly and reached for her gun. _Yes!_ She got it! She loaded and stood in preparation for the hidden enemy. Suddenly, a fire arrow blasted toward her. She rolled away quickly, and dodged it. _Phew_ , she thought. But this was a dry field of grass. It caught fire. "Shit!" Charlotte swore as she saw her shoe catch fire. She desperately tried to get it out. She didn't want to take it off though; her hand might get burned. To make matters worse, her attacker had released another arrow.

Suddenly, a man appeared, deflecting the arrow with a long knife. Charlotte looked back at her foot and started panicking. The pain was getting worse and worse! And now the ground was getting caught on fire too. She had to keep moving! Her foot was hurting like hell.

After swiftly delivering an arrow of his own at the other archer, the man dumped a cool bottle of water onto her foot.

"Aahhh," she sighed, relieved.

"Come on," the stranger beckoned. "Quickly!" He grabbed hold of her hand and started running. She ran with him. Her burnt foot was hurting and she fiercely bit down on her lip to try to keep the pain down. She glanced back and saw that the flames were spreading quickly, but they were outrunning it. Finally, they got onto the trail. It didn't look like it was going to catch on fire anytime soon.

"How is your foot?" the stranger asked.

Charlotte gingerly removed her shoe to examine her foot. It looked pretty badly burnt. It wasn't drastic, but still, it would take a few days for the pain to wear off, even for her. She sighed in annoyance. Would she even get to meet Eragon?

The stranger pulled out a small bag and reached into it. He took out a small vial. He gave it to Charlotte and said, "Here. Drink this. It'll help numb the pain."

Charlotte gratefully took it and downed it immediately. She hoped the pain wouldn't last long. The man took a second item out of his bag. It looked like some sort of cream. He scooped some out with his fingers and gently spread it over her burned foot. She braced herself for the pain that would come when his fingers came in contact with the sensitive skin on her foot. It came, but not even close to how bad she expected it to be. She opened her eyes in surprise. It was magical how soothing the cream was. Already, her foot felt better. Her burn didn't seem nearly as severe either, or was she just imagining that? _No… she wasn't._ She looked at her foot in wonder. It was healing within seconds!

"Wow, thank you so much. This is amazing and you're very kind to help me like this," Charlotte said gratefully to the stranger.

The stranger just nodded and studied her. Charlotte noticed that his eyes were beautiful. They were blue, like Sean's. But unlike Sean's, his were a striking, electrifying blue, instead of an oasis-blue. She found his prolonged stare uncomfortable, so she was about to look away when she thought, "Wait, I know those eyes… that face." She turned back to him and said, "You- I know you. You were that guy- that guy who helped me six years ago!"

"So you remember," he said with a smile.

* * *

Caroline was lying on a fancy bed with golden sheets. The pillow she lay on was purple, complementing the gold perfectly. The bed looked like it belonged to royalty. "Mmm…" Caroline murmured as she slowly woke. She didn't want to leave, it was way too comfortable. She wished she could stay like that forever.

She sleepily launched a light kick to the other side of the bed. Her leg met only the cushioned bed. Her eyes jolted open. "Klaus? Klaaaus? Hey, where are you?"

She sat upright and surveyed the room. Klaus was nowhere to be found. _That's strange,_ she thought. Where could he have gone? _He was supposed to be beside her as she woke._ She got an idea. He must have left a note. She looked at his pillow. He did, in fact, leave a note. She recognized his elegant, perfect calligraphy.

She took the note in her hand. It read:

 _Caroline, my love,_

 _I am sorry to have left you this morning. I just realized we are short a few ingredients for the breakfast I wanted to cook for you, so I have gone out to get them. I hope you do not wake up before I return, but in case you do, I leave you this note._

 _Klaus_

Caroline let out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh, he didn't need to leave just because of that!" she thought.

"Perfectionist much?" she muttered to thin air. In her mind, she heard his voice retorting, "And you aren't?" in his perfect British accent. She let out a humourless and surprised "why-am-I-hearing-his-voice-inside-my-head" snort.

She decided to give him twenty minutes to return. She was being lenient about it. If he didn't return in that time, she was going to give him an earful.

Twenty minutes later, Klaus still hadn't returned. Instead of feeling anger at him for leaving her the morning after their first night, she felt worry start to creep in. She thought, "What if he's in trouble? No, he can't be. It's Klaus. But what if he is?" Without waiting another second, she rushed to her room, grabbed a jacket, and slung a small bag of emergency supplies and weapons over her shoulder.

As she searched for him, she found a pair of footprints in the dirt. They belonged to Klaus! She recognized the design on the underside of his shoe. She traced them to a forest. The footprints were much harder to see now. Still, she kept looking, focusing less on the ground and more on her other surroundings. Suddenly, she yelped as she fell down a ditch.

Disoriented, she stumbled after attempting to stand. She looked up. The light was so far away. The ditch sure was deep _._ _Who would dig a deep ditch like this in the middle of nowhere? Seriously?_ She groaned. She had obtained a number of bruises, but those would heal in no time. She looked to the right. She didn't see much at first. Just as she was turning to the left, she did a double take. There was a _hand_. It wasn't moving, just lying there.

Slowly, taking a deep breath, she edged toward it. As she crept toward it, she noticed it was getting darker and darker. She was moving away from the angle of the light. Then, she remembered that she had a flashlight headband in her bag. She pulled it out, fitted it around her head, and switched the light on.

There, lying before her on the ground, bloodied and motionless, was Klaus.

Caroline gasped, horrified. It couldn't be _._ After an initial moment of shock, she came to her senses and tried to awaken him. "Klaus? Klaus?! Wake up! Klaus!"

She noticed blood on his lips. It smelled like vampire blood. He must have gone down putting up a good fight. _Of course he would have._

 _But why wasn't he getting up?_ When it became clear he wasn't going to wake, or at least not anytime soon, her concern for him escalated. She felt tears trickling down her face. She didn't care to wipe them away.

"Klaus," she sobbed, "You idiot." She gently took his head in her hands. "This wasn't supposed to happen. What was s-supposed to happen w-was… you were supposed to wake up beside me and we were supposed to get up together, a-and go to the kitchen, cook breakfast together, and it was supposed to be all romantic, and I was going to-" she broke off to suck in a choked breath.

"I was gonna tell you something I just realized. I was gonna tell you I _loved_ you."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

As Caroline cried over Klaus, thoughts flashed through her mind. Even a few years ago, she wouldn't have ever imagined spilling tears over Klaus… Klaus, the one who had tried to kill most of her friends… at least once. Klaus, who had tried to sacrifice her for a ritual. She thought of how much things could change. Someone she had once wanted dead was now secretly the person who filled every day of her existence with life.

Suddenly, Klaus drew a sharp intake of breath. Caroline's head shot up. "Klaus!" she gasped. She felt so relieved. Klaus's eyes darted to her. "Caroline?" He looked slightly reassured by her presence. Then a look of sheer terror dominated his expression.

"What is it?!" Caroline asked.

Klaus's eyes grew wide, and he slowly turned his head from side to side. "No… no… NO! This is not happening." He gradually lifted his nervous gaze to meet her eyes. "Caroline, I think I'm human."

" _What_?!" Caroline asked, clearly in disbelief.

* * *

 _So you remember me._

"Yes, I do. Yeah, I remember you," Charlotte replied. She was nervous. She didn't know what to say. This was the guy she had a secret crush on for six years. No, it was more than that. fact that someone, a stranger, would just save her like that was so touching, not to mention his polite, gentlemanly attitude. And not to forget his impeccable looks: his striking blue eyes, his smooth perfect blond hair, and his face. He was almost… a fantasy. How could somebody be that perfect? Could such perfection even exist?

She suddenly felt awkward. Not knowing what to do, she looked back at her foot. It was miraculously all healed! Not fully believing it, she stood up cautiously. It felt fine too!

"It's already better!" Charlotte exclaimed.

Legolas grinned. "This liquid was gifted to me by the lady Galadriel, who is a very powerful and respected leader among the elves. It has extraordinary healing qualities."

Charlotte suddenly remembered something. This man who had occupied so many of her thoughts, as well as so much of her heart, throughout the past few years, was nameless to her. She said, "I'm Charlotte." He smiled warmly at her. "What's your name?" she asked.

"I am Legolas of Mirkwood," he answered.

 _Legolas,_ wow. That was certainly a name she had never heard before. It was a nice name.

"That's a really cool name. I like it," she told him with a shy smile.

"Thank you," he said. "I like your name too."

After a small awkward silence, he asked her, "So what were you doing out here?"

She easily decided that he could be trusted, so she told him, "Oh, I was heading toward the headquarters of the Varden."

"I see. Do you have business with the Varden?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm actually a member of the Varden, but I'm in a special task force within it, and I'm new, so I've never actually been to the headquarters yet. I have a short week-long break, so I was going to go there and spend my week there… what about you? What brings you here? Last I saw you, you weren't in this world."

"Ah, yes. I got a psychic to teleport me here," Legolas replied. "And my business is…" he broke off, hesitation clear in his voice.

Charlotte quickly told him, "Oh, it's okay. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Legolas looked at her contemplatively for a few seconds and then spoke. "I'm here to find a friend of mine who has gone missing. I am very worried."

Charlotte gave him a look of sympathy. "I hope you succeed and find your friend all safe and sound." Then she added, "I'm sure you will."

"Thank you," Legolas said. It was very difficult to interpret him. She couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling most of the time because his face was always presented in a composed, polite manner.

Charlotte wondered when they would part ways. She was loathe to do so; she liked being around him so much. Every moment around him seemed magical, even if they weren't speaking or making eye contact. He just had this aura to him that was so appealing and perfect. But she couldn't stand not knowing how long they would be together, so she asked, "Legolas, which way are you heading?"

"I do not know my friend's whereabouts , so I will check the Varden first. Even if he's not there, perhaps I will be able to find information that will help me find him, so I will travel with you."

"Oh really?!" she blurted out. It was just way too much excitement all of a sudden.

When Legolas stared at her curiously at her sudden outburst, she flushed and said, "I mean, that's cool. I like travel companions. I was starting to get bored anyway."

Legolas just smiled. "What is that smile supposed to mean?!" Charlotte thought. She felt so nervous around him, and she found herself wondering about every little eyebrow raise he made, every look he gave her, and every word he spoke.

Legolas said, "We could get there before the end of the day if we travel fast enough. Let's start walking." The pair picked up their travel packs and started walking.

As they walked, they exchanged short tales from their lives. Charlotte told him about her university life at the RMC, and Legolas spoke of his duties as the Elven prince of Mirkwood. They exchanged a couple of laughs as they recounted amusing experiences.

"Once," Charlotte said, stifling back laughter, "on the first day of school, there was this one student who was SO arrogant. Oh my god, he actually thought he was _all that_. He looked down on everybody, apart from his friends, but as soon as we started training and learning, he wasn't even average! Sure, he was good enough to get in to the RMC, but he was a notch under average… his face when he realized that he wasn't the best anymore was so priceless."

Legolas gave a light chuckle. "Those people are always amusing. I remember, once while I was fighting against an enemy, he looked so conceited and I could see what was on his mind. He thought he could defeat me easily, so he even motioned for me to come to him and attack him first. I did, and took him down in one strike. Then, he just tried to crawl away."

Charlotte laughed, "He was crawling away… crawling away!" She found it hard to stop. There was something about Legolas… he made her laugh so easily. "Wow… that's just hilarious. Just priceless!" she said.

They laughed together. The harmony of their happy laughter filled the evening with light.

* * *

"What do you mean you're _human_?" Caroline asked. "That's impossible," she muttered.

"That's what I thought too," Klaus said, clearly in shock. "But I think it's true. I feel different now. I can't do anything a vampire can. Or anything a werewolf can."

He looked very troubled. If the sky could be used as a metaphor for his expression right now, it would be stormy for sure, with myriads of tornados and hurricanes wreaking chaos.

"Turn me," he murmured.

Caroline could see how much he didn't want to be human, so she obliged. "Okay."

She bit into her right wrist and held it up to his mouth. He drank up the blood quickly, and pulled away. "You do it," he said.

Caroline looked at him with a pained expression.

Klaus's panicked expression calmed down a bit after looking at her, and he softened, "Please. I lack the means and materials to do so right now. I'm sorry."

With great reluctance, she snapped his neck with her vampire speed. She wanted to do it as fast as possible.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Klaus gasped as he regained consciousness. Caroline turned to him right away, and asked worriedly, "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

Klaus replied drily, "Well, I'm not dead."

Caroline said, "Hey, of course you're not. Come on, I was the one who turned you." She gave him a half-hearted wink. She wanted to cheer him up. When Klaus's expression didn't change, she sighed and continued, "Let's be optimistic about this. I know it must be hard, but you can do this."

Klaus said sourly, "Let's just make our first priority getting out of this ditch."

"Sure," Caroline answered. "Hmm… at first, this looked way deeper than what it seems like now. It was probably because I was panicked at the time. I think we can jump up and get out of this place using our vampire strength. Come on."

She and Klaus jumped up and successfully got out of the ditch. Klaus seemed the slightest bit unsteady, so she steadied him. Klaus was not pleased when he noticed his weakness. "I'm fine," he said. "You don't have to help me."

Suddenly, an array of arrows flew toward them. Caroline counted 9 in total. She caught the first one and threw it back at one of the archers. They were made of wood! Concerned, she turned to Klaus for a split second. She saw that he had successfully dodged all of the ones that flew in his direction. She was pleased to see that his many years of life experience were allowing him to be safe, even though he no longer retained his Original hybrid strength. She dodged all of the arrows as well, but all of a sudden, a dozen more arrows were launched toward them. One stabbed her in the abdomen. She cried out in pain. She tried to dodge the other ones, and she was successful for most of them, but another arrow pierced her, this time in the arm. Klaus cried, "NO!" and started making his way toward her.

"No, Klaus, don't! Don't come here! Just go somewhere and be safe for now." She winced at her injuries, and then put on a brave face. "I'll be fine!"

Klaus, being himself, didn't listen. He ran to where she was, accidentally getting stabbed in his side by an arrow. He grunted in pain. Then, he took a deep breath. _This is Caroline,_ he thought. _I have to save her no matter what._ Fighting as hard as he could, he caught all the arrows that came at their direction, and with superb aim, finished off all of their attackers. They both sighed in relief to themselves.

Caroline whimpered as she took out the arrow in her hand. Then, after taking a quick breath to calm herself, she removed the arrow stuck in her abdomen. She began to feel better. The arrows were wooden though, so it would take longer to heal than usual. Klaus grabbed his own arrow deep in his side, and grimaced as it came out.

"Let's go find shelter," Caroline said.

* * *

After another hour of traveling, Charlotte and Legolas had reached the Varden. When they approached the guards, Legolas said, "Greetings. I am Legolas, son of King Thranduil. And this is Charlotte, a friend."

The guards seemed to recognize Legolas's name and bowed to him. "Sir! Please come in." They opened the door for them.

 _I wonder how they recognized Legolas_ , Charlotte thought.

Then they were warmly met by a beautiful lady. She was the leader of the Varden, Lady Nasuada, whom Charlotte had heard so much about. She was so excited. From what she had heard, she held so much respect for the lady and all the feats she had achieved, as well as all the incredible obstacles she had overcome. Legolas and Charlotte bowed.

"Ah, Prince Legolas," Nasuada greeted, bowing back. "It is good to see you again."

"It is good to see you well and healthy," Legolas returned.

Nasuada smiled and then turned to Charlotte.

Charlotte bowed her head again, a smaller bow this time, and introduced herself. She said, "My name is Charlotte, my lady. I am a member of the Gard."

"Yes, Charlotte… Kili has told me about you. I have heard that you are a good agent." She gave Charlotte a warm smile, which she returned.

"Follow me," Nasuada said to both of them, leading them inside. Charlotte looked around in awe. It was so spacious, and the architecture of the whole place was very interesting indeed. The ancient style of it was also very fascinating. _But then again, in this world, what isn't made in this style?_

Nasuada said, "As welcomed guests, I would be rude not to show you entertainment. There is a concert today in the main hall. Feel free to attend. I assure you, it will be a delight. Food will also be served there." Then, she turned to the side. She beckoned to a servant, "Marie, show our guests to the spare guest bedrooms."

"Yes, milady," Marie answered, bowing. "Please follow me," she said, as she lead the pair up the spiral staircase.

 _I wonder where Eragon is,_ Charlotte thought briefly, before her mind and senses became overwhelmed by the elegance of her surroundings.

Eragon came downstairs from his room. He had heard sounds. People were whispering about two new guests, who had only just arrived an hour ago. He grew curious of these newcomers, and decided to ask Nasuada about them. He went up to her and greeted her. Then, he asked, "Lady Nasuada, who are those two newcomers that everyone is speaking about?"

Nasuada raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Eragon. Why does that pique your interest?" with a slight smile.

Eragon said, "No one new has come in for a while now, and I'm just curious, my lady."

Nasauda said, "It's Legolas, the son of King Thranduil. You've heard of him. His companion is a member of the Gard, and so, she is one of us as well."

 _A member of the Gard,_ Eragon thought. He grew hopeful. What if it was Charlotte? "What is her name?" Eragon asked innocently, trying not to arouse more suspicion from Nasuada.

"She is called Charlotte."

Eragon couldn't believe it. He would finally be meeting her! He was so excited. All those dreams they had shared together were such treasures, and they were the most fun he had had in a long time, especially in these stressful times.

"Thank you, milady," Eragon said to her. He bowed slightly, and then left. He turned around as soon as he could, determined not to let her see his silly, wide grin of a child that was plastered on his face.

* * *

Caroline and Klaus had found shelter. It came in the form of an abandoned warehouse. After making sure that it was really abandoned, and no one was hiding around the area, they entered. There, they nursed their injuries together.

Caroline looked over at Klaus. Klaus wore an expression that contained a flurry of emotions. There was frustration, pain, annoyance, desperation, shock, denial, and guilt.

"Hey," Caroline reached for his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "It's okay. We're all safe now."

Klaus looked at her and met her eyes. "I'm sorry, Caroline."

"What do you mean?" she said, emitting a slight, surprised laugh. It was not the type of laugh that came with humour.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. That's what I'm supposed to do, but you got hurt, and I couldn't even stop it." He threw a chair in frustration at his own physical weakness.

"Klaus, it's not your fault. These things happen. It was a sneak attack. We didn't see it coming. Don't blame yourself, because it wasn't your fault. At all."

Klaus didn't look convinced. Suddenly, he exploded, "Yes, it is! Normally, I would have been able to get us out of that situation, completely unscathed! Today, look what's happened!"

"Klaus!" Caroline shouted. "Blaming yourself won't help the situation. Just stop that!" she said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I can't!" Klaus yelled in a frustrated, desperate, and hopeless voice. "I'm now a mere shell of what I used to be." Then, another thought just occurred to him. "I've made a few enemies over the years too. A few… as in a few thousand. Being a regular vampire, it's not going to be a pickle I can escape out of, love. I might as well go and stake myself now. Ha!" As he said that, he released a crazed, nervous laugh devoid of joy.

Caroline's eyebrows scrunched up in concern. In a soft voice, she said, "Klaus, don't talk like that."

"Wouldn't it be the smart thing to do? I thought that _maybe_ it would all work out, that this weakness would prove not to be that severe, but we've both seen the proof, haven't we? Just now."

"Klaus," Caroline said in a strong voice. "You are not staking yourself. I won't let you. I've finally found the one person I want to be with for all of _eternity._ I'm sure it's you. This is just an obstacle in your life- in our lives. You can get through this! You've gone through so many other obstacles in the past, and every time, you've come back, stronger than ever. Remember, there's ALWAYS a way. I'll help you. I'm never giving up on you, so just remember that."

"Caroline," Klaus murmured with watery eyes. Then, he slowly kissed her. Unlike their first kiss, which turned passionate, this one stayed slow, delicate, and sweet.

* * *

Charlotte and Legolas walked down the stairs to eat and watch the concert. Charlotte was famished. She hadn't eaten in hours, and she had travelled a long way. She was so excited to see what food they would have.

The concert was nice. First, a man with a stringed instrument began playing. The tune was lovely, and strangely heartrending. It reminded Charlotte of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in those aspects. Then there was a duet between two women, a solo by a man, a choir of young children, and now, a young man had come up to take his turn on the stage.

The man who was about to sing caught Charlotte's eye. There was something about him that kept her eyes from looking away from him, and it wasn't just the fact that he was extremely handsome. He had charming boyish features. His straight black hair was styled so that it was sticking up slightly. It was perfectly styled. He looked to be about 21. He was Asian, and he had a light tone to his skin.

Then, he began singing. He sang a soft ballad, which turned powerful. At that moment, as his golden honey-like voice spread its delicious sound waves across the room, a realization struck her. She recognized the song. The reason she couldn't look away from him was because she _knew_ him.

When the song ended, the audience applauded very enthusiastically. "Thank you, thank you," he accepted the applause graciously. Then, his eyes wandered over the crowd. He was looking in her direction. A second after his eyes skimmed over her section, Charlotte saw him slightly frown and do a double take at her. They locked eyes.

He ran toward her. She started toward him too. She screamed in delight. She was so excited. Could she really be seeing him again? Especially after all this time? When they reached each other, they took a second to just smile widely at each other. Then they embraced.

"Davie!" Charlotte yelled, smiling at him fondly.

"Charlotte!" Davie shouted back, happiness brightening up his features.


End file.
